We Tapped a French Design Specialist to Answer Your Biggest Interior Design Questions

Beginning a new decor project comes with its fair share of excitement, but also an equal dash of trepidation that us design enthusiasts wouldn’t be able to overcome without a little help. With French modern style being one of the north stars for a discerning yet distinctive home, it can get even harder to work this look into your own space—after all, the sleek aesthetic can be difficult to get exactly right, especially due to the array of mixed materials and unique furniture it entails.

"Contemporary French style is elegant," says Francois Vijayan, senior design ambassador and lead merchandiser at Ligne Roset. "It’s organic, with graceful form and function."

Fortunately, when you’re picking products from French modern luxury brand Ligne Roset, you’re able to access their interior design concierge service, involving everything from evaluating your space and choosing the best items to completing furnished floor plans and renderings for a 360-degree look at your home. This makes Ligne Roset a one-stop shop for all your design needs, and their experts have years of experience to troubleshoot even the most intricate issues you might face. "Normally, French style pairs with opulence and guild," Vijayan adds, "But with Ligne Roset, the collection pairs with French sensibility, lifestyle, non-conformity, modernism, and contemporary artistic values mixing technology and hand-craft to create beauty."

To help us get a head start on all our spring design endeavors, we’ve asked Vijayan to walk us through the biggest design uses a homeowner might face when creating their very own contemporary space.

When and How to Mix Eras (and Make it Look Good)

While the common impression is that mixing the old with the new might look out of place, Vijayan insists that they can merge together quite well—specifically when you’re using modern design in a historical space.

"Start by determining the overall feeling you want to achieve," he advises. "Use different colors, texture, and a variety of scales to layer the contemporary pieces to blend within the historical canvas. Select contemporary pieces that allow the historic/aged room to maintain its importance and authenticity, as many contemporary pieces give a nod to a traditional style, rather than directly opposing it."

For instance, maybe a modular floor lamp will emphasize a more regency-style rug, and the colors will be able to play off of one another—you’ll never know until you try.

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How Low Is Too Low for a Coffee Table?

A really cool aspect of French contemporary design is the use of clean lines and lower furniture pieces, which let you play with scale. However, when designing a living room using low furniture, the question comes up: Does the coffee table have to follow suit? And does this affect its functionality in any way? The answer, it seems, depends on your own personal style.

"Scale and height balance are both incredibly important, but ideally with low furniture, one can use low coffee tables or end tables surrounded by higher lamps and cabinetry," adds Vijayan. "Another option is to balance the play on height with upholstery pieces such as the Prado with accompanying Togo chairs"—aka, use low furniture around the coffee table that’s just slightly higher, but still low enough so that the coffee table doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.